The Mystery of the Lake
by Samantha Spanner
Summary: Mater thought that he saw something up in the valley by Tailfin Pass. Was it real? Or was it just another Tall Tale? Bad summary, it's better than it sounds. Rated for a short, maybe scary moment. Oneshot. Please read, review and, hopefully, enjoy!


**Author's Notes:  
><strong>**Hello, everyone. This random little fanfic is based off of a location in the "World of Cars" video game, and a certain ledged surrounding it. I hope y'all enjoy it!**

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><p>"L-Lightnin'?" Mater called quietly from the driveway outside Cone number one, to no reply. He knew that the racecar was probably asleep at this hour, but he had to tell <em>someone<em> what he'd seen.

Mater drove closer to the door and knocked lightly. "McQueen?"

"Mmph… sparkplug… checkered flag…" Came a quiet, muffled reply from Lightning. Mater soon figured that his friend was talking in his sleep again.

"Psst, hey, McQueen?"

Lightning opened his eyes sleepily, having heard his name called. "Hmm? What?" He rolled over the button that opened the door. "Mater?"

Sure enough, as the door opened, a certain Tow Truck came into view, and Lightning couldn't help but notice that the lighting looked as if the sun had just gotten around to rising. Lightning began to wonder what was going on when he noticed Mater's expression of general unease.

"Hey, Mater." Lightning greeted, trying successfully to hold back a tired yawn that had started to form. "What's going on?"

Mater glanced around nervously, as if worried that he was being watched. "Well, I was drivin' through Redhood valley, 'n I saw something…"

Lightning had a feeling that he knew what that something might have been, or, what Mater thought the something was. "Let me guess… Ghostlight?"

Mater shook his head.

"That howling thing we heard a few weeks ago?"

Mater, again, shook his head. "Nope."

Lightning was almost surprised. "What was it?"

"Ya' see, I was down by the lake," Mater started, eyes wide as he retold the occurrence. "havin' a great time. Then, this hu-uge thing came out o' the water, making this weird noise like… like…" Mater continued in an attempt to copy the noise, which, coming from him, sounded like a car with a sore throat that was skidding around in circles trying to sing.

Once Mater finished his 'demonstration', Lightning became curious. "Did you happen to see what it looked like?" he asked before a sudden, confused expression appeared on his face. "Wait… did you say 'lake'?"

Mater blinked in surprise. "Well shoot, you ain't ever been down to the lake, have ya'?"

"Uh… no." Lightning replied. "I didn't know that we had a lake near here."

"Well c'mon, then! I'll show ya' where it is!" Mater said, driving off excitedly, momentarily forgetting about his sighting.

Lightning rolled over a button to close the door, shaking his head in amusement.

Apparently, he was going on an impromptu tour of Redhood valley.

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><p>A while later, Lightning found himself driving along a road that branched off of the route to the Wheel Well, following a very energetic, excited Mater. Eventually, the tow truck made another turn onto a sandy path that ran through the trees.<p>

"There it is." Mater announced upon reaching the end of the trail. "Lake Floaty."

Lightning drove around to Mater's side, looking at the large, blue lake that was stretched out in front of them. "Wow," he said, a quiet chuckle in his words, "How did I miss this?"

"It's kinda hard t' spot from the main roads," Mater replied, grinning, "'Cause of all the trees."

Lightning glanced around at the trees ringing the lake, seeing what Mater meant. The only way you could see the lake without being parked next to it was probably from the air.

"Huh," Lightning wondered aloud, "I wonder why they call it Lake Floaty?"

Mater looked at Lightning and grinned mischievously.

Lightning noticed his friend's expression. "What?" he asked, wondering what was on his mind.

With a laugh, Mater suddenly shot forward, driving over the sand and toward the water at speeds that surprised even Lightning. Actually, the fact that Mater was driving toward the water was what surprised Lightning.

Lightning sped after him, "Mater? What are you-?"

Mater reached the water's edge and, instead of turning away, kept driving forward.

"doing…" Lightning's eyes widened as Mater drove out over the lake. His tires were only sinking half-way to the wheel, causing him to bob happily on the surface.

Mater turned to face Lightning, laughing gleefully. "Now, _that's_ why they call it Lake Floaty." he explained.

Lightning was stunned. "How in the world?" he asked as he drove up to the lake's edge, carefully skimming one tire over the surface. The next thing Lightning knew, he was suddenly pulled away from the beach and onto the water, all thanks to a well-aimed tow hook belonging to you-know-who.

Lightning spun his wheels, trying to gain control on the unfamiliar surface, but only succeeded in spinning around wildly, sending up fountains of spray.

Nearby, Mater laughed playfully. "Try turning yer wheels." he suggested, performing the action himself, "It works a whole lot better!"

Lightning stopped spinning his wheels and, once he stopped spinning, tried as Mater said. He turned right, then left, then right, in short, repeated motions. He couldn't help but think of how much the motion resembled a fish's paddle, but it worked.

Mater floated nearby, still chuckling. "You should'a seen yer face, Lightnin'!"

Lightning turned to Mater, and spun his front wheels backward, sending a burst of spray that landed about a tire-length in front of the tow truck.

This was followed by a moment of similar splashing, which eventually changed to a game of tag that spread out over the lake. Long story short, the thing that Mater had seen was completely forgotten… For a while…

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><p>"Last one to the shore… Is the last one to the shore!" Mater challenged. On the water, the two were much more equally matched in the way of speed.<p>

"You're on." Lightning agreed, lining up next to Mater at the 'Starting position'.

"Alright!" Mater said excitedly. "Start your… uh…" he trailed off. He was going to say 'Start your engines', but they were paddling across the lake, not really using their engines.

"Paddling?" Lightning suggested.

"Great." Mater agreed. "Start your paddling!"

The two cars set off, both waggling their tires back and forth like, as Lightning observed earlier, fish. They were in a close tie for the first half of the race, but Lightning eventually gained a lead.

"AAHH!" There was a sudden shout from Mater.

Lightning tied to turn around to see what was going on, but a large wake suddenly arose, pushing both cars toward shore. He saw Mater shoot past him and reach the shore, but he still wondered what happened. Spinning and waggling his tires, Lightning managed to get himself turned around, just in time to see what Mater had seen.

There, in the center of the lake, a large, metallic hump was diving back under the water, which was sloshing around so much that you could practically say that the thing had 'disappeared under the waves'.

Lightning stared, mouth open in surprise, as he rolled onto the beach next to an equally shocked Mater.

"What… was that?" Lightning asked, staring at the spot where it had gone under.

"I don't know…" Mater said, also staring at the spot. "I can tell ya' one thing though…"

Lightning looked at Mater, curious.

"It definitely wasn't a fish…"

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><p><strong>Notes:<br>****Like I said, random little oneshot. Reviews are appreciated, but, this is my first fanfic. So, please, no flaming... it's fiery and melty and... unpleasant.**

**Disclaimer:  
><strong>**I do not own Cars. ~ Yo no soy dueño Cars. ~ Je ne possède pas Cars. ~ Non possiedo Cars.**


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